Ankara is threatening: Either we join the EU or we cancel the agreement on immigrants

Jan, 19 2018
Author: Thema Newsroom

“A privileged partnership or co-operation against terrorism, such a proposal will not even be considered by Turkey”

Ankara is threatening with canceling the agreement on immigrants, something directly concerning Greece, in the absence of a proposal for full membership as a Member State in the European Union.

As Minister of European Affairs Omer Chelik says, Turkey will reject any proposal by the EU that does not include Turkey’s full integration as a Member State, warning that given the current situation, Ankara has no reason to keep its end of the agreement with the EU.

“Whatever they call it, a privileged partnership or co-operation against terrorism, such a proposal will not even be considered by Turkey,” he added.

French President Emmanuel Macron said two weeks ago that developments in Turkey did not allow progress in its accession negotiations. According to him, the talks should focus elsewhere, talking about the possibility of a privileged partnership between Ankara and the EU.

Chelik, for his part, denounced that the EU does not respect all the terms of its agreement with Turkey on the limitation of migrant flows to Europe.

According to him, Turkey’s economic aid “does not work”, no new chapters in the EU accession negotiations have opened and no progress has been made on extending the customs agreement between the two sides.

“In fact, Turkey has no reason to continue to abide by this agreement,” the Turkish Minister said.